LEICESTER. Behold, my Liege! The symboled future! May the God of England verify it soon. _He buries his face in his hands and continues kneeling_. _The_ QUEEN _eyeing it for a moment_, _on all sides_, _in deep abstraction_, _rushes from the throne_, _and placing it on a highly ornamented table under the light_, _examines it curiously_, _not without awe_, _as if something supernatural_. LEICESTER, _still kneeling_, _watches her askance_. QUEEN (_slowly_). Magnificent! sublime! Art indeed, which can embody thought in gold, and almost shape the lips to speech. Prophetic Vision! Symboled future, humph! The future still to me is mystic, dark, and awful. (_She looks around for_ LEICESTER, _who is still kneeling before the throne and watching the_ QUEEN _with great anxiety askance_). No more of that play-acting; up man, and expound thy riddle. (LEICESTER _comes forward_, _and taking up the group in one hand_, _whilst he points with the other to the figures_, _thus explains their meaning_, _the_ QUEEN, _anxiously awaiting the result_). LEICESTER. The central figure, seated on a throne, with features so beautiful, the express image of Majesty itself, is the Queen of England! the likeness unmistakeable. At her feet kneeling, is the so-called Queen of Scots. Around the stormy ocean your bulwark, strength, and power. On either side, figures of France and Spain overwhelmed in the waves, whilst Neptune, rising in front, presents to you the globe, and does homage to the true Sovereign of the seas. QUEEN. Oh Leicester! Leicester! (_The_ QUEEN _sinks upon a chair_, _overcome by the weight of thought and the tumult of her ideas_). Prophetic Vision! Symboled Future! I am lost in a tumult of thoughts, and hopes, and fears. Call Ashley! Be quick! Quick, my Lord! Exhausted! Overcome! (_Exit_ LEICESTER. _She leans sobbing on the chair_, _her face buried in her hands_). _Re-enter the_ EARL OF LEICESTER _with_ MRS. ASHLEY, _who rush to her assistance_. _Curtain falls_. ACT II. SCENE I.—THE HARBOUR OF SAN JUAN DE ULLOA. _It is surrounded by high cliffs with batteries_. _An Island at the mouth_. _Spanish and English ships_. _The town_. _Deck of the_ “_Jesus_” _of Lubeck_.—SIR JOHN HAWKINS, DRAKE, HAMPTON, BOLTON. _A Council of War_. _Thunder_! _Lightning_! _Tempest_!